Make these! Really, we couldn’t believe how good these jam-and-cream-cheese bars came out. You’ll have to patiently wait while they chill in the refrigerator to get the most flavor. 

The end of our school year provides us with an education on amounts over or under-ordered in our annual shopping. We ended up a little short on all-purpose flour and a little heavy on whole wheat. The challenge with 100% whole wheat is the heaviness and denseness it lends to baked goods. Mixing finely chopped nuts into the whole wheat crust and layering lighter flavors on top solved the problem in a delicious way.

This recipe would work with any jam. Of course, we love cloudberries and as long as we’re in the Arctic these delicious, rare berries will be our fruit of choice.

Cloudberry Cheesecake Cookie Bars

Crust

• 1/4 cup pecans, finely chopped
• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake layer

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Top layers

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup pecans, finely chopped
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 2 cups cloudberry jam

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Butter 8 x 8 inch glass baking dish. Set aside.
3. Mix crust ingredients until coarse meal forms.
4. Press crust mixture into bottom of glass baking dish.
5. Bake for 15 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned.
6. Prepare cheesecake layer while crust is baking.
7. Beat cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.
8. Pour cream cheese mixture evenly over baked crust.
9. Return baking dish to oven and bake for an additional 25 minutes, until layer sets.
10. Mix the remaining ingredients for top layer (except jam) until crumbly.
11. Evenly and gently spread jam over cream cheese layer taking care not to disturb the cheese layer.
12. Sprinkle crumble on top of jam.
13. Return to oven and bake for another 20 minutes, or until top begins to turn golden brown and jam bubbles.
14. Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
15. For best results, chill pan in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight before cutting.

Cloudberries, also called aqpik in the Eskimo language of Inupiaq, are a sublimely sweet, berry that grow in the extreme north. Read more about them in these articles:

Cloudberry Country

Cloudberry Syrup

Cloudberry Cake

Cloudberry Sorbet

Coconut Aqpik Thumbprints